Bodybuilding The Vegan Way, Part I: The Workout

Vegetarianism, more specifically a vegan lifestyle has gotten more attention recently and I am writing this article to show how it is possible to adhere to a vegan lifestyle and still make great gains as a bodybuilder.

I would first like to apologize for the long layoff between articles. I have been busy in the past few months working on getting my modeling career started, dieting down for a couple of photo shoots with the most notable for the January issue of Muscle & Fitness Magazine and signing with an agency.

Vegan Lifestyle

Vegetarianism, more specifically a vegan lifestyle has gotten more mainstream attention in recent years and I am writing this article in an effort to show how it is possible to adhere to a vegan lifestyle and still make great gains as a bodybuilder.

Different Kinds Of Vegetarians

Lacto-Ovo Vegetarianism: Lacto-ovo vegetarians are people who do not eat meat, but do include dairy products (lacto) and eggs (ovo) in their diets. Lacto-ovo vegetarianism is sometimes recommended as a dietary therapy for a variety of conditions, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, high cholesterol, obesity, osteoporosis, hypertension, gout, gallstones, kidney stones, ulcers, colitis, hemorrhoids, premenstrual syndrome, anxiety and depression.

Lacto Vegetarianism: A lacto vegetarian diet is a vegetarian diet that includes dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, cream, and kefir. Unlike a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, eggs are excluded. This diet is popular with many followers of Eastern religious traditions, such as Sikhism, Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism. It has also been popularised internationally since the 1960s by the Hare Krishna movement.

Ovo Vegetarianism: Ovo vegetarians are vegetarians who eat eggs but not meat or dairy products.

Veganism: Vegans (pronounced vee-guns) are vegetarians who do not eat any foods (eggs, dairy products, meat, etc.) derived from animal sources. Most vegans also do not use products that require for their production the death or suffering of animals, such as leather, fur, wool and certain cosmetics.

It is my goal to show how a vegan lifestyle can still help bodybuilders make great gains but in no way am I attempting to push my beliefs and lifestyle on anyone. This article is for anyone who is interested in a vegan bodybuilding lifestyle and those who would like to know more about being a vegan bodybuilding.

This article is the first of many installments that I will be writing over the course of the year. In this first part I will highlight workouts that will help vegan bodybuilders build muscle.

Vegan Vs. Regular Capsules

Regular capsules use animal gelatin (or animal 'jelly' - made from boiled bones, skins and tendons of animals) while Vegetarian caps are all natural non-gelatin based.

Vegetarian caps can also be made from Agar-agar, which is derived from seaweed, (but expensive). It can also be made from Kazu.

Products like Jello, gum and snack pack can potentially have gelatin in it, but there are variations of each of these products made by the same companies without gelatin.

So, if a product has 'gelatin', it cant be vegan

Vegan Workouts

It is tempting to try the workouts that are listed in many of the muscle magazines. However, it is important for vegans to realize that their lifestyle and nutrition programs do not support the recovery necessary to train with high volume and frequency. I can vouch to this from experience.

It does not take much to stimulate muscle growth, heavy weight and low reps will get the job done. It is important to keep workouts under 45 minutes. Most of my workouts last only 30-to-35 minutes. Later on in the year toward "beach season" I will highlight workouts and routines to help shed body fat and cut up but the main point of this article is to build muscle.

How much, if any cardio to be done is based on the individual. When I bulk up I do not do any cardio at all, but I would say that those who would like to do cardio, do 2-to-3 sessions of 15-to-20 minutes at a low intensity per week. The bike, elliptical or walking or jogging on the treadmill are great choices.

Keep the intensity, frequency and duration low. Also, make sure to have a vegan-friendly protein shake (soy, rice, hemp) 20 minutes before doing cardio to prevent any muscle loss during the cardio workout.

Weight Lifting Guidelines

I keep my repetitions between 4-and-6 for core lifts (Bench Press, Deadlift and Squats) and 6-to-10 for all other lifts.

The Workout Split

The following is the way that I split my workouts up. If I have time and my schedule allows for it, I do two separate workouts with a workout for the first body part of the day in the morning and the workout for the other muscle group to be worked that I perform later in the evening.

Sunday: Off

Monday: Chest & Triceps

Tuesday: Back & Biceps

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Legs & Abs

Friday: Shoulders & Traps

Saturday: Off

The Workouts

I used to have workouts set in stone and I never varied from them, but after having seven years of training under my belt, I have become more aware of my body and in-tune to how I feel. Now I go into the gym with a plan and goal of what I want to achieve but I listen to my body and adjust the sets, reps and exercises that I perform based on how I feel on that given day.

For example with chest I may have planned to do the barbell bench press, incline dumbbell presses and dumbbell flyes, but for some reason my body tells me that the flyes are not going to happen today, I switch to the cable cross-over or pec-deck flye instead.

With all of that said, here are my typical workouts with each body part with the substitutions that I use for certain exercises.

Conclusion

There you have it. This is how I work out and this workout will definitely help you to maximize your gains, minimize your time in the gym and maximize your recovery potential which leads to the growth of new muscle tissue.

Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional prior to beginning any diet or exercise program or taking any dietary supplement. The content on our website is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice or to replace a relationship with a qualified healthcare professional.